Microelectronic package and method of manufacturing same

ABSTRACT

A microelectronic package includes a first substrate ( 120 ) having a first surface area ( 125 ) and a second substrate ( 130 ) having a second surface area ( 135 ). The first substrate includes a first set of interconnects ( 126 ) having a first pitch ( 127 ) at a first surface ( 121 ) and a second set of interconnects ( 128 ) having a second pitch ( 129 ) at a second surface ( 222 ). The second substrate is coupled to the first substrate using the second set of interconnects and includes a third set of interconnects ( 236 ) having a third pitch ( 237 ) and internal electrically conductive layers ( 233, 234 ) connected to each other with a microvia ( 240 ). The first pitch is smaller than the second pitch, the second pitch is smaller than the third pitch, and the first surface area is smaller than the second surface area.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/590,138, now U.S. Pat. No. ______, which was filed on Nov. 3, 2009.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed embodiments of the invention relate generally to packagingfor microelectronic devices, and relate more particularly to thedistribution of electrical wiring within high density microelectronicpackages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Integrated circuit dies and other microelectronic devices are typicallyenclosed within a package that, among other functions, enableselectrical connections to be made between the die and a socket, amotherboard, or another next-level component. As die sizes shrink andinterconnect densities increase, such electrical connections must bescaled so as to match both the smaller pitches typically found at thedie and the larger pitches typically found at the next-level component.

An existing approach to interconnect scaling within microelectronicpackages is to use a single high density interconnect (HDI) substrate tohandle the space transformation from die bump pitch, where a typicalpitch value may be 150 micrometers (microns or μm) to system board levelpitch, where a typical pitch value may be 1000 μm, 1.0 millimeter (mm).This approach results in very fine line, space, and via design rules toenable die routing and very large substrate body sizes in order tointerface at the system board level pitch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed embodiments will be better understood from a reading ofthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying figures in the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a microelectronic package according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the microelectronic package of FIG.1 according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing amicroelectronic package according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing amicroelectronic package according to another embodiment of theinvention.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figuresillustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions anddetails of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments ofthe invention. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are notnecessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of theelements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements tohelp improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. Thesame reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements,while similar reference numerals may, but do not necessarily, denotesimilar elements.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in thedescription and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishingbetween similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particularsequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the termsso used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such thatthe embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example,capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated orotherwise described herein. Similarly, if a method is described hereinas comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presentedherein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may beperformed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omittedand/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added tothe method. Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” andany variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion,such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a listof elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but mayinclude other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process;method, article, or apparatus.

The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,”“under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, areused for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describingpermanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms soused are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that theembodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capableof operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwisedescribed herein. The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined asdirectly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electricalmanner. Objects described herein as being “adjacent to” each other maybe in physical contact with each other, in close proximity to eachother, or in the same general region or area as each other, asappropriate for the context in which the phrase is used. Occurrences ofthe phrase “in one embodiment” herein do not necessarily all refer tothe same embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In one embodiment of the invention, a microelectronic package comprisesa first substrate having a first surface area and a second substratehaving a second surface area. The first substrate comprises a first setof interconnects having a first pitch at a first surface thereof and asecond set of interconnects having a second pitch at a second surfacethereof. The second substrate is coupled to the first substrate usingthe second set of interconnects and comprises a third set ofinterconnects having a third pitch and first and second internalelectrically conductive layers that are connected to each other with amicrovia. The first pitch is smaller than the second pitch, the secondpitch is smaller than the third pitch, and the first surface area issmaller than the second surface area.

It was mentioned above that existing microelectronic packaging solutionsemploy HDI substrates to handle the space transformation from die bumppitch to system board level pitch. The cost structure of the HDIsubstrate is largely determined by the technology required to achievethe minimum—and more expensive to implement—design rules. However, theseminimum design rules are really only needed in the area under the dieshadow and in the first few millimeters of signal routing from the dieedge. In the existing approach, therefore, the cost is driven by therequirements of only about 20% of the total area of the substrate.

Embodiments of the invention involve a combination of HDI substrate andHDI printed circuit board (PCB) technologies that results in a packagingsolution—useful for central processing unit (CPU) and chipset packagingand the like—that is much more cost-effective than the existingpackaging solutions described above. To accomplish this, embodiments ofthe invention break the space transformation into two levels, each withfundamentally different cost structures. The system level interface ishandled by a first substrate manufactured using HDI PCB design rules andmaterials. The die level interface is handled by a second substrate, thesize of which may be restricted to the minimum required to support aninterconnect at the HDI PCB substrate level, manufactured using morerestrictive die level design rules and materials. Because the cost ofthe die level design rules may exceed that of the PCB design rules by afactor of ten or more, embodiments of the invention yield a coststructure that is significantly less than that of existing techniques.

Embodiments of the invention may enable especially significant value, interms of both cost savings and other factors, in the environment ofhigh-end server CPU or graphics processing unit (GPU) packagingtechnology. Such technology areas require very large form factors andlayer counts to meet product requirements, resulting in a very expensiveHDI substrate under existing packaging processes. By breaking thepackaging space transformation across two substrates, as described indetail below, an overall lower cost structure can be achieved.

In certain embodiments of the invention the first and second substratesare manufactured and attached to each other before the die is attachedin the final package. This allows defects in the substrate layers andelsewhere to be yielded out without wasting good die, thus reducing costand increasing efficiency. Additionally, die and substrate manufacturingcan be done in parallel, which reduces throughput time.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a plan view and FIG. 2 is across-sectional view of a microelectronic package 100 according to anembodiment of the invention. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2,microelectronic package 100 comprises a microelectronic die 110, asubstrate 120, and a substrate 130. Substrate 120 has a surface 121 witha surface area 125, a surface 222 opposite surface 121, a set ofinterconnects 226 having a pitch 227 at surface 121, and a set ofinterconnects 228 having a pitch 229 at surface 222. Substrate 130 has asurface 131 with a surface area 135, a surface 232 opposite surface 131,a set of interconnects 236 having a pitch 237, and internal electricallyconductive layers 233 and 234 that are connected to each other with amicrovia 240.

Pitch 227 is smaller than pitch 229, pitch 229 is smaller than pitch237, and surface area 125 is smaller than surface area 135. Accordingly,substrate 120 has fine line, space, and via design rules that allowconnection to die 110 at typical controlled collapse chip connect (C4)pitches. Substrate 120 redistributes the input/output (IO), power, andground bumps coming from die 110 to a larger pitch coarse enough to bemounted on an HDI PCB substrate represented by substrate 130. As hasbeen described, substrate 130, in addition to interfacing at aparticular pitch with substrate 120 on one side, interfaces at a largerpitch with a socket or motherboard or the like on the other side.According to embodiments of the invention, a combination of substrates120 and 130, which combination may be referred to as a substrateassembly, may serve as the “substrate” in a CPU or chipset package.

It should be noted that microvia 240, in accordance with traditionalusage of that term, is a connection running only between two adjacentlayers within substrate 130. This distinguishes it from a plated throughhole, or PTH, which runs through an entire stack of substrate layers.

Die 110 is coupled to substrate 120 using interconnects 226, andsubstrate 130 is coupled to substrate 120 using interconnects 228.Interconnects 236 may connect microelectronic package 100 with amotherboard or the like (not shown) via a socket or similar component(also not shown). The socket connections may be of any suitable type,including pin grid array (PGA), land grid array (LGA), bail grid array(BGA).

Interconnects 226, being the interconnects that form the first level ofconnections coming out of die 110, are traditionally referred to asfirst level interconnects, or HA. Similarly, interconnects 236, beingthe interconnects that attach the die package to a motherboard orsimilar component, are traditionally referred to as second levelinterconnects, or SLI. Interconnects 228 represent a new interconnectlevel because they form connections to a component (substrate 120) thatis not part of existing microelectronic packages. Following the namingscheme already in place for first level and second level interconnects,the phrase “mid level interconnect” (“MLI”) is proposed herein as thename for interconnects 228.

A challenge facing manufacturers of microelectronic devices isdeveloping processes capable of delivering high yielding assemblyprocesses at fine bump pitches for large die. One process being exploredis thermo-compression bonding (TCB). The TCB process will benefit fromhaving a flexible substrate (such as a careless substrate) rather than athick, rigid substrate. Thus, in one embodiment, substrate 120 is a coreless substrate with no PTHs or other through holes but rather microviasconnecting all layers. On the other hand, a desire for a substrateassembly having an integrated voltage regulator or the like may dictatethat substrate 120 have a core. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment,substrate 120 comprises a core 225.

In certain embodiments, microelectronic package 100 further comprises anintegrated passive device 245 located in at least one of substrate 120and substrate 130. In the illustrated embodiment, integrated passivedevice 245 is located in substrate 130. As an example, integratedpassive device 245 can serve as a component in a hilly-integratedvoltage regulator or the like.

In some embodiments where substrate 120 is a cored substrate, the coreitself has a thickness that is no greater than 400 micrometers. In thesame or other embodiments, and as illustrated in FIG. 2, substrate 120contains a plurality of through holes 251 having a diameter that is nogreater than 200 μm. In the same or other embodiments, and asillustrated in FIG. 1, substrate 120 contains electrically conductivetraces 152 (only two of which are shown) that each have a thickness nogreater than 15 micrometers and are separated from each other by spaces153 that are no greater than 15 micrometers. In the same or anotherembodiment, substrate 130 contains electrically conductive traces 162(only two of which are shown) that each have a thickness no greater than75 micrometers and are separated from each other by a space 163 that isno greater than 75 micrometers.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method 300 of manufacturing amicroelectronic package according to an embodiment of the invention. Asan example, method 300 may result in the formation of a microelectronicpackage that is similar to microelectronic package 100 that is firstshown in FIG. 1, not including die 110.

A step 310 of method 300 is to provide a first substrate. As an example,the first substrate can be similar to substrate 120 that is first shownin FIG. 1. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the first substrate has afirst surface area and comprises a first set of interconnects having afirst pitch at a first surface thereof and a second set of interconnectshaving a second pitch at a second surface thereof, and the first pitchis smaller than the second pitch.

A step 320 of method 300 is to attach the first substrate to a secondsubstrate in order to form a substrate assembly in which the secondsubstrate has first and second internal electrically conductive layersthat are connected to each other with a microvia. As an example, thesubstrate assembly can represent a combination of substrates that aresimilar to the first substrate and the second substrate. As anotherexample, the microvia can be similar to microvia 240 that is shown inFIG. 2. As another example, the second substrate can be similar tosubstrate 130 that is first shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, in oneembodiment, the second substrate has a second surface area, is coupledto the first substrate using the second set of interconnects, andcomprises a third set of interconnects having a third pitch. In thisembodiment, the second pitch is smaller than the third pitch and thefirst surface area is smaller than the second surface area.

As mentioned above, in certain embodiments of the invention substrate120 is a coreless substrate. In at least some of those embodiments, andin other embodiments where substrate 120 is relatively thin and/orflexible, the substrate can be difficult to handle without causingdamage to it. This can represent a significant challenge for coreless(and other) package assembly processes. Pre-attaching substrate 120 tosubstrate 130 as described in step 320 solves the rigidity issue andallows existing assembly and test methods to be used. Step 320 may beperformed using standard flip chip or BGA assembly techniques.

An optional step 330 of method 300 is to reinforce the substrateassembly. As an example, optional step 330 may comprise adding anunderfill material or corner glue or the like to the substrate assembly.

A step 340 of method 300 is to perform a test on the substrate assemblyin order to obtain a test result. Note that this step takes place priorto die attach, leading to cost savings and other advantages as describedelsewhere herein.

A step 350 of method 300 is to attach a die to the substrate assemblyif, and only if, the test result satisfies a pre-determined condition.As an example, the pre-determined condition can be a favorable orpassing result of a test operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 of manufacturing amicroelectronic package according to an embodiment of the invention. Asan example, method 400 may result in the formation of a microelectronicpackage that is similar to microelectronic package 100 that is firstshown in FIG. 1, including die 110.

A step 410 of method 400 is to provide a die. As an example, the die canbe similar to die 110 that is first shown in FIG. 1.

A step 420 of method 400 is to attach the die to a first substrate inorder to form a die assembly. As an example, the first substrate can besimilar to substrate 120 that is first shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, inone embodiment, the first substrate has a first surface area andcomprises a first set of interconnects having a first pitch at a firstsurface thereof and a second set of interconnects having a second pitchat a second surface thereof, and the first pitch is smaller than thesecond pitch. As another example, the die assembly can be similar to thecombination of the die and the first substrate.

An optional step 430 of method 400 is to reinforce the die assembly. Asan example, optional step 430 may comprise adding an underfill materialor corner glue or the like to the die assembly.

A step 440 of method 400 is to perform a test on the die assembly inorder to obtain a test result.

A step 450 of method 400 is to attach the die assembly to a secondsubstrate having first and second internal electrically conductivelayers that are connected to each other with a microvia if, and only ifthe test result satisfies a pre-determined condition. As an example, themicrovia can be similar to microvia 240 that is shown in FIG. 2. As wastrue for method 300, the pre-determined condition, as an example, can bea favorable or passing result of a test operation.

As an example, the second substrate can be similar to substrate 230 thatis first shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the secondsubstrate has a second surface area, is coupled to the first substrateusing the second set of interconnects, and comprises a third set ofinterconnects having a third pitch. In this embodiment, the second pitchis smaller than the third pitch and the first surface area is smallerthan the second surface area.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scopeof the invention. Accordingly, the disclosure of embodiments of theinvention is intended to be illustrative of the scope of the inventionand is not intended to be limiting. It is intended that the scope of theinvention shall be limited only to the extent required by the appendedclaims. For example, to one of ordinary skill in the art, it will bereadily apparent that the microelectronic package and the relatedstructures and methods discussed herein may be implemented in a varietyof embodiments, and that the foregoing discussion of certain of theseembodiments does not necessarily represent a complete description of allpossible embodiments.

Additionally, benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems havebeen described with regard to specific embodiments. The benefits,advantages, solutions to problems, and any element or elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced, however, are not to be construed as critical, required, oressential features or elements of any or all of the claims.

Moreover, embodiments and limitations disclosed herein are not dedicatedto the public under the doctrine of dedication if the embodiments and/orlimitations: (1) are not expressly claimed in the claims; and (2) are orare potentially equivalents of express elements and/or limitations inthe claims under the doctrine of equivalents.

1. A method of manufacturing a microelectronic package, the methodcomprising: providing a first substrate; attaching the first substrateto a second substrate in order to form a substrate assembly, the secondsubstrate having first and second internal electrically conductivelayers that are connected to each other with a microvia; performing atest on the substrate assembly in order to obtain a test result; if, andonly if, the test result satisfies a pre-determined condition, attachinga die to the substrate assembly.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: reinforcing the substrate assembly.
 3. The method of claim 1wherein: the first substrate has a first surface area; the firstsubstrate comprises a first set of interconnects having a first pitch ata first surface thereof and a second set of interconnects having asecond pitch at a second surface thereof; and the first pitch is smallerthan the second pitch.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein: the secondsubstrate has a second surface area; the second substrate is coupled tothe first substrate using the second set of interconnects; the secondsubstrate comprises a third set of interconnects having a third pitch;the second pitch is smaller than the third pitch; and the first surfacearea is smaller than the second surface area.
 5. A method ofmanufacturing a microelectronic package, the method comprising:providing a die; attaching the die to a first substrate in order to forma die assembly; performing a test on the die assembly in order to obtaina test result; if, and only if, the test result satisfies apre-determined condition, attaching the die assembly to a secondsubstrate, the second substrate having first and second internalelectrically conductive layers that are connected to each other with amicrovia.
 6. The method of claim 5 further comprising: reinforcing thedie assembly.
 7. The method of claim 5 wherein: the first substrate hasa first surface area; the first substrate comprises a first set ofinterconnects having a first pitch at a first surface thereof and asecond set of interconnects having a second pitch at a second surfacethereof; and the first pitch is smatter than the second pitch.
 8. Themethod of claim 7 wherein: the second substrate has a second surfacearea; the second substrate is coupled to the first substrate using thesecond set of interconnects; the second substrate comprises a third setof interconnects having a third pitch; the second pitch is smaller thanthe third pitch; and the first surface area is smaller than the secondsurface area.